2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (The 22nd 49 events in the PGA TOUR Season) Orlando, Florida March 5-8, 2020 Purse: $9,300,000 ($1,674,000/winner) Bay Hill Club & Lodge Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,454 First-Round Notes – Thursday, March 5, 2020 Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 89. Wind SSW 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25. First-Round Leaderboard Matt Every 65 (-7) Rory McIlroy 66 (-6) Talor Gooch 67 (-5) Scottie Scheffler 67 (-5) Things to Know • Two-time Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Matt Every (2014, 2015) posts low 18-hole score in 11th start • World No. 1 Rory McIlroy one shot back as he seeks second title at Bay Hill • Two players go bogey-free in round one: Matt Every (65), Scottie Scheffler (67) • Defending champion Francesco Molinari withdrew before the first round due to a back injury • For the second time, the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard is part of the Open Qualifying Series (OQS), offering three spots in the 2020 Open Championship to the top players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties First-Round Lead Notes 3 First-round leaders/co-leaders at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to win since 2000 (Most recent: Jason Day/2016) 2 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win on TOUR in 2019-20: Tiger Woods/ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Nick Taylor/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Leader entering the week Player Matt Every Age 36 (12/4/83) FedExCup 166 OWGR 309 Starts at Bay Hill 10 Wins at Bay Hill 2 PGA TOUR starts 238 PGA TOUR wins 2 Starts in 2019-20 11 Top-10s in 2019-20 0 Matt Every (-7/1st) • 65 marks low score in 33 rounds at Bay Hill; marks third time he opens the event with a round in the 60s, having gone on to win each previous occasion (2014/69, 2015/68) • Holds first-round lead/co-lead for the eighth time and first since the 2017 Wyndham Championship (13th); has never converted a first-round lead/co-lead to victory • Enters the week with two missed cuts in last two starts on TOUR; recorded an 85 in the second round of last week’s Honda Classic, the second highest score of his career (86/2014 Dell Technologies Championship/R3) • Winner of the 2014 and 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational, one of three players to win back-to-back at Bay Hill (Loren Roberts, Tiger Woods) • Can become the first player to post his first three PGA TOUR victories at the same event since Leonard Gallett (1929, 1933, 1934 Wisconsin PGA) • Making 11th start in the event; has no top-10s outside of two wins; Missed cut in last two starts at Bay Hill Rory McIlroy (-6/2nd) • Since tournament debut in 2015, is 58-under-par, the most of any player in that span Player Score to Par Rory McIlroy -58 Francesco Molinari -42 Henrik Stenson -40 • Ranked inside the top 10 on the leaderboard in 18 of last 19 rounds on TOUR • Finished in the top six in last three starts at Bay Hill (2019/T6, 2018/1st, 2017/T4) • Can join Tiger Woods as the only players with seven or more consecutive top-fives on TOUR since 2000 (Won/2019 TOUR Championship, T3/2019 ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Won/2019 WGC-HSBC Champions, T3/2020 Farmers Insurance Open, T5/2020 The Genesis Invitational, 5th/2020 WGC-Mexico Championship) • Seeking to join the following players with multiple titles at the event: Tiger Woods (8), Jerry Heard (2), Gary Koch (2), Tom Kite (2), Loren Roberts (2), Ernie Els (2), Matt Every (2) • Led the TOUR in top-10s last season (14); one of three players with TOUR-leading five top-10s this season (Justin Thomas, Byeong Hun An) • Last World No. 1 to win the event: Tiger Woods (2009); Last World No. 1 to win on the PGA TOUR: Brooks Koepka (2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational) • Will defend title at next week’s PLAYERS Championship Talor Gooch (-5/T3) • Making second start in the event (2018/T26); Played Nos. 16-1 in 5-under (E-B-B-B) • Has four top-10s on TOUR; Best finish in 58 starts is a T3 at the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open Scottie Scheffler (-5/T3) • PGA TOUR rookie is making his tournament debut • Leads the 2019-20 rookie class with four top-10s; Viktor Hovland became the first rookie to win this season two weeks ago at the Puerto Rico Open Miscellaneous Notes • Reigning Arnold Palmer Award winner (PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year) Sungjae Im cards a 2-under 70 (T19) in first tournament round since claiming maiden PGA TOUR victory at last week’s Honda Classic • Tommy Fleetwood, who finished third at The Honda Classic, opens with a 4-over 76; marks first round without a birdie in last 118 rounds on TOUR, dating to third round of the 2018 U.S. Open; leads TOUR with 33 consecutive made cuts • Brooks Koepka, No. 3 in the world and No. 220 in the FedExCup, opens with an even-par 72 (T45) • Henrik Stenson opens the event with a 5-over 77 for the second consecutive year; In 2019, followed first-round 77 with rounds of 66-69-71 to finish T17; Marks first start in calendar year • In his first PGA TOUR start, sponsor exemption Brandon Matthews cards 3-over 75, failing to record a birdie • Scottie Scheffler (T3) and Sam Burns (T5) were teammates at the AJGA’s Wyndham Cup team match play event held at Bay Hill in 2012 • The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard is part of the Open Qualifying Series (OQS), offering three spots in the 2020 Open Championship to the top players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties. The other PGA TOUR events in the OQS are the RBC Canadian Open, Travelers Championship and John Deere Classic. At the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Keith Mitchell, Sungjae Im and Sung Kang earned spots. • Two players withdrew before the start of round one; Francesco Molinari (back) withdrew and was replaced by K.H. Lee; J.B. Holmes (elbow) withdrew and was replaced by Sepp Straka Bogey-free rounds: R1: Matt Every (65), Scottie Scheffler (67) Scoring Averages at Bay Hill: Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative R1: 36.760 35.793 72.554 --- Early Scoring Average: 71.87 Late Scoring Average: 73.27 The par-4 9th hole and par-4 15th tied for the toughest in round one (4.306) The par-5 12th hole ranked as the easiest (4.628) .